Garment indicia strip

ABSTRACT

A garment indicia strip and method for size labeling a pair of folded pants. A strip of flexible material has indicia repeatedly printed along a first major surface thereof. The indica are printed using symbols having a height no greater than the width of an edge of said folded pants. A second major surface of the strip has a pressure sensitive adhesive material bonded thereto. In use, the second surface of the strip is affixed to a pair of pants at a predetermined position whereby sizing information of the pants can be determined by reading the strip when the pants are folded.

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/049,949filed Apr. 20, 1993, now abandoned which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 07/643,769 filed Jan. 18, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No.5,343,648, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 522,220 filedMay 10, 1990, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser.No. 409,765 filed Sep. 20, 1989, now abandoned, which is a continuationof application Ser. No. 223,438 filed Jul. 22, 1988, now abandoned.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to garment indicia in the nature of tags, labels,or the like for identification of garment information and a method forusing such indicia on folded garments.

BACKGROUND ART

Labels and hangtags are well known for the general purpose ofidentifying various features of garments. However, such labels andhangtags are commonly affixed to the garment in such a manner andlocation that the information appearing thereon, and even the label orhangtag itself, is usually hidden when the garments are folded andstacked for storage or display.

Prior inventions have attempted to overcome the shortcomings of commonlyused labels and hangtags. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,399, toHenson, issued Mar. 27, 1956, shows a marking device having a stubportion which may be sewn to a seam of a garment and a tab integral withand extending substantially perpendicularly from the stub portion so asto extend beyond an edge or fold of the garment. Such marking deviceshave also proven to be unsatisfactory. It is desirable to have a garmentindicia strip which will permit a manufacturer or retailer to fold thegarment in a plurality of ways for storage or display while maintainingthe visibility and legibility of the garment indicia strip. The garmentindicia strip should also be flush to the surface of the garment inorder to avoid inadvertent tearing or removal of the strip from thegarment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The garment indicia strip of the present invention is suitable for usewith any type of garment or article which may be folded and stacked forstorage or display.

The indicia strip of the present invention has a front surface uponwhich garment indicia are repeatedly printed. A pressure sensitiveadhesive is mounted to the rear surface of said strip such that thestrip may be removably adhered to a garment.

In use, the garment indicia strip of the present invention can be placedat any point on a garment at which the garment will be folded duringstorage or display thereof. For example, when the garment indicia stripis used with a pair of pants, the garment indicia strip is preferablyplaced adjacent and substantially parallel to the side seam of the pantleg.

The garment indicia strip can be placed at any point along the side seamat which the garment will be folded. For example, if the pants are to befolded in half for storage or display, the garment indicia strip can beplaced at approximately the midpoint of the side seam. If, however, thepants are to be folded in thirds for storage or display, the garmentindicia strip can be placed approximately one-third the length of theside seam from the waistband of said pants.

A release liner is affixed to the indicia strips prior to theirapplication to a garment. The release liner prevents the indicia stripsfrom becoming inadvertently affixed prior to their use, and moreimportantly, the liner allows the indicia strips and release liner to beformed into a continuous length which can be readily rolled for storageand unrolled for use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and forfurther advantages thereof, reference is now made to the followingDescription of the Preferred Embodiment taken in conjunction with theaccompanying Drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front surface of the indicia stripof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear surface of the indicia strip ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the garment indicia strip of the presentinvention in place on an unfolded pair of pants;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the garment indicia strip of the presentinvention on a folded pair of pants; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective, partially exploded view of indicia strips ofthe present invention in place on a continuous roll of release liner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a garment indicia strip of the presentinvention is generally identified by reference numeral 10. Strip 10 hasa front surface 12 and a rear surface 14. Indicia 16 are printed onfront surface 12 of strip 10. It has been found to be beneficial torepeatedly print indicia 16 along front surface 12. It is alsobeneficial that indicia 16 be printed with letters or numerals having aheight "h" which is not greater than the width "w" of a folded edge ofpants 24, as been seen in FIG. 4. As a result of repeatedly printingindicia 16 along strip 10 and limiting height "h" of indicia 16, indicia16 are visible and legible whenever strip 10 is folded along its length18, as depicted best in FIG. 4.

Rear surface 14 of strip 10 has a pressure sensitive adhesive mountedthereon. Any known pressure sensitive adhesive may be used inconjunction with the present invention. However, it has been found to bedesirable to use a pressure sensitive adhesive which will not mar thesurface structure of and which may be readily removed from the garmentor article to which the garment indicia strip is attached. Prior toapplication of strip 10 to a garment, a release liner 22 is applied torear surface 14 in order to prevent adhesive 20 from binding to anysurface prematurely. Release liner 22 may be constructed of any knownmaterial such as, by way of example, but not by way of limitation,Fasson® CRACK 'N PEEL plus ™. In a preferred embodiment, release liner22 is constructed of a silicon-coated paper material.

In a preferred method for using the garment indicia strip of the presentinvention, a plurality of strips 10 are attached to a continuous length28 of release liner 22, as best seen in FIG. 5. Continuous length 28having strips 10 mounted thereon can be rolled to form roll 30 of strips10 and release liner 22. Roll 30 facilitates compact and safe storage ofstrips 10 while also facilitating the dispensing of said strips for use.In a second preferred method, a plurality of strips 10 are attached toform a continuous length of said strips. The continuous length of strips10 is then releasably adhered to continuous length 28 of release liner.In a second preferred method, a means of detaching strips 10 from oneanother, such as by perforation, is provided. Strips 10 are individuallyremoved from continuous length 28 of release liner immediately prior toapplication of strip 10 to the garment as described below.

Although the garment indicia strip of the present invention can be usedwith any garment or object, the following description of use of thegarment indicia strip on a pair of pants will be deemed to describe itsuse on any other garment or object. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, thegarment indicia strip 10 of the present invention can be applied to apair of pants 24 to indicate various features of pants 24. For example,indicia 16 may reflect the waist size and/or inseam length of the pants.Indicia 16 may also indicate style number, size, color, etc. Strip 10 ispreferably applied to pants 24 adjacent and substantially parallel toside seam 26 of pants 24. Strip 10 is placed along side seam 26 at apredetermined position such that pants 24 can be folded and stacked withindicia 16 appearing on the outside fold of the pants, thus permitting acustomer to readily see the size of each pair of pants in the stack. Forexample, if pants 24 are to be folded in half for storage or display,strip 10 is adhered to pants 24 at approximately the midpoint of sideseam 26. If pants 24 are to be folded in thirds for storage or display,strip 10 is adhered to pants 24 approximately one-third the length ofthe side seam from waist 34 of pants 24.

Although the present invention has been described with respect tospecific preferred embodiments and preferred methods of practice,various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in theart and it is intended that the present invention encompass such changesand modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sizing label in combination with a pair ofpants, said pants having two legs and an outseam on at least one legthereof, said pants being folded along said legs creating a fold havingan edge which is substantially perpendicular to said outseam and saidedge having a width, said sizing label comprising:a flexible strip ofmaterial having a first major surface and a second major surface; saidfirst major surface having size information for said folded pair ofpants printed repeatedly thereon, said size information being printedwith numerals having a height not greater than the width of said edge ofthe fold of said folded pair of pants to which the label is affixed; andsaid second major surface having a pressure sensitive adhesive materialmounted thereon; said strip of material completely conforming to andbeing adhesively secured to a surface of one of said legs of said foldedpair of pants; said strip of material being adhesively secured aroundsaid edge of said fold at a predetermined position and said sizeinformation being substantially parallel to the outseam of said pair ofpants, such that a consumer can readily determine the size of saidfolded pair of pants from said size information visible on said strip ofmaterial when said folded pair of pants are displayed in a stack ofgarments.
 2. The sizing label in combination with a pair of pants ofclaim 1 further comprising:a liner paper releasably attached to saidpressure sensitive adhesive material mounted on said second majorsurface of said strip of material, whereby said strip of material can beremoved from said liner paper for attachment of said strip of materialto said pair of folded pants.